WAR at SEA

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WAR at SEA in the AIR

• People tend to think of the WWI just taking place
  in Europe on land, however much was happening at
  sea and in the air

2
WAR AT SEA

• At the beginning of WWI, Canada had 2 midsized
  warships

1) the Niobe 2) the Rainbow
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HMCS NIOBE

• Armed with guns to fight other ships and covering
  the small boats alongside the HMCS Niobe was
  part of Canada's response to Britain's request
  for naval support.
• Niobe transfer from Britain as a training ship
  for Canada's new navy
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier's had plans for a fleet of
  locally-built cruisers and destroyers under
  Canadian control.
• The Liberals (Laurier) in 1910 established a
  distinct Naval Service of Canada (Naval service
  bill)
• The Conservatives (Robert Borden) preferred
  direct financial support to Britain.

4
HMCS Rainbow

• When war was declared on 4 August, 1914, HMCS
  Rainbow was already on its way to Mexico with
  orders to seek and destroy a pair of armed and
  aggressive German cruisers.
• Despite her lack of guns and armour, Rainbow was
  expected to outface the heavier ships and big
  guns of the enemy and escort the vulnerable
  British vessels safe back to their base.

5
Canadas Role

• By the end of the war, Canada had 112 warships
  (in many cases they refitted yachts and other
  vessels)
• Canadas main role shipping troops and supplies
  to Europe
• Merchant Marine carried weapons, munitions, food,
  troops

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Clarification on Mustard vs Chlorine

• Chlorine and Mustard gas are gaseous chemical
  compounds that are highly toxic to humans.
• They were both used as weapons during the First
  World War.
• Chlorine gas was the first chemical weapon used
  in the war at the Battle of Ypres. It was
  released from large tanks and allowed to drift
  towards Allied positions. Chlorine is heavier
  than air and thus stays close to ground level,
  making it very effective in trench warfare.
• Mustard gas was not commonly used in such a
  massive release and was most often deployed via
  artillery bombardment. Mustard gas blisters the
  lungs and other exposed areas and is generally
  more lethal than chlorine.

7
Britain vs. Germany

• Main naval rivalry was between Germany and
  Britain
• Germans used submarines (U-Boats) to attack any
  ships heading to Britain
• Britain developed Q-ships to find and destroy
  U-Boats (Unterseeboot) undersea
• Blockade of Germany meant Germans were starving
  by 1915

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Q ship- British
U boat- German
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Germanys retaliation

• Germany introduced unrestricted submarine
  warfare which meant they attacked ANY ship
  heading for Britain
• German U-Boat sank a passenger ship called the
  Lusitania , a British luxury liner killing over
  1000 people
• Ships started to travel in groups called convoys
  to protect themselves

10
Convoys

• Sailing in fleets/convoys meant that
• Supply ships sailed with escorts of armed
  Destroyers that kept constant watch.

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Discussion Questions

• Was it fair that the Germans torpedoed the
  Lusitania?

12
WAR in the AIR

• Fokker plane
• Designed by a Dutch airplane builder Anthony
  Herman Gerard Fokker
• Used by the Germans in WWI

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• An air ace, a flying ace or fighter ace is a
  military aviator/pilot credited with shooting
  down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat.
  
• The actual number of air victories required to
  officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is
  usually considered to be five or more
• Canada had a group of Canadian flyers/fighter
  pilots called the Black Flight
• Average life expectancy of an air fighter was 11
  days.
• Battles between air fighters were called
  dogfights.

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Canadas Air Aces
Billy Bishop

Ray Collishaw
Above a picture of the Triplane that Collishaw
would have used painted jet black. The members
of the Naval Squadron 10 also named their planes,
Black Maria, Black Roger, Black Death, Black
sheep and Black Prince.
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BILLY BISHOP

• Left Royal Military College in Kingston, ON when
  the war broke out in 1914 and joined Mississauga
  Horse Calvary Unit, and the Mounted Infantry Unit
  in London, ON.
• He showed natural ability with a gun and excelled
  on the firing range. Some said he had
  super-human eyesight able to hit targets so
  far away that others only saw a dot.
• Bishop quickly became frustrated with the mud of
  the trenches and the lack of action.
• In July 1915, after watching an Royal Flying
  Corps (RFC) aircraft return from a mission,
  Bishop said, "...it's clean up there! I'll bet
  you don't get any mud or horsesht on you up
  there. If you die, at least it would be a clean
  death."

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Billy Bishop

• Shot down 5 enemies in a month from March
  17April 8,1917.
• Painted the nose of his aircraft blue (the mark
  of an ace) to celebrate
• Became known to the Germans as Hells
  Handmaiden
• Bounty was placed on his head
• Won a Military Cross for claiming 12 enemies in
  the month of April alone
• Mechanic counted 210 bullet holes in his plane
  after one of his patrols
• Won a Distinguished Service Order for shooting
  down two enemy aircraft while being attacked by
  four others
• Also won a Victory Cross for his attack on the
  German aerodrome in June 1917

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Germanys Red Baron

• He was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial
  German Army Air Service during WWI.
• considered the ace-of-aces of that war as he was
  officially credited with 80 air combat victories
  victories, more than any other pilot.
• There are many stories and theories about the red
  barons death, but Canadian novice pilot Wilfrid
  Wop May and Roy Brown essentially took him down
  together.

Manfred von Richthofen
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